Thanksgiving Can Change Your Life 1-20-11
1 Peter 2:12 reads, 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
Psalm 118:1 says, "Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his love endures forever."
Philippians 4:4 reads, Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!
The day before Thanksgiving an elderly man in Phoenix called his son in New York and said to him, "I hate to ruin your day, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are divorcing; 45 years of misery is enough. We’re sick of each other, and so you call your sister in Chicago and tell her."
Frantic, the son called his sister, who exploded on the phone. "There no way they’re getting divorced," she shouted, "I’ll take care of this." She called Phoenix immediately, and said to her father. "You are NOT getting divorced. Don’t do a single thing until I get there. I’m calling my brother back, and we’ll both be there tomorrow. Until then, don’t do a thing, DO YOU HEAR ME?" The man hung up his phone and turned to his wife. "Okay, honey. The kids are coming for Thanksgiving and they are paying for their own flights." Thankfulness.
On Thursday we will all be gathering together with our family and hopefully we will remember to do more than eat a meal and watch whatever you like to watch on TV or make a mad dash for the mall. The Thanksgiving Holiday gives us the perfect opportunity to transform our lives from those of griping and dissatisfaction to lives of joy and gratitude. Thanksgiving is a good holiday for us to turn the corner and become grateful people. God wants nothing more than for us to be people of thanksgiving and gratitude. "A thankful spirit is one of the key distinguishing marks of a Christian. It sets us apart from the world, it makes us different." Psalm 118:1 says, "Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his love endures forever."
I. THE BENEFITS OF A GRATEFUL SPIRIT
Now why do you think being a thankful person is so important? Well I think it is because gratefulness is good for our spiritual health. There are a many ways being a grateful person can benefit you.
For one, being a grateful person can increase your contentment, and your ability to serve our Lord in a greater capacity. Most of us think that our happiness is determined by our circumstances. If I asked you, on a scale of one to ten how happy you are right now, you might say, "Well, I’m about a 2 on the happiness meter because of my circumstances."
A father and his son were seated at the dining room table, while the mother was finishing the final preparations on the family’s dinner. While the father and son were seated, the father asked the son if he would say the prayer for the meal. The youngster nodded his head, and said that he would pray. The mother placed the last of the meal on the table, and sat down. The boy looked around the table at the food for a moment, and began to pray. He said, "God, I’m not sure what it is. But thanks anyway. And I’ll still eat it."
We’ve been taught that our happiness is somehow dependent on how well things go for us. But really our happiness is determined by our attitude toward our circumstances. It is really in how we see things, do we have a Christian world view? That is, do we look at our world through Christian eyes? The apostle Paul wrote these words from prison. "Rejoice in the Lord always," he wrote, "and again I say it rejoice." (Philippians 4:4). Paul was able to experience joy despite being in prison and how, he learned to thank God in everything he did. It was really his perspective on life.
A young woman wrote her mother from college: "Dear Mom: Sorry I haven’t written sooner. My arm really has been broken. I broke it, and my left leg too, when I jumped from the second floor of my dormitory...when we had the fire. We were lucky. A young service station attendant saw the blaze and called the Fire Department. They were there in minutes. I was in the hospital for a few days. Paul, the service station attendant, came to see me every day. And because it was taking so long to get our dormitory livable again, He has been so nice. I must admit that I am in love. Paul and I plan to get married just as soon as he can get a divorce. I hope things are fine at home. I’m doing fine, and will write more when I get the chance. Love, Your daughter, Susie.
P.S. Mom, none of the above is true. But I did get a "C" in Sociology and flunked Chemistry. I just wanted you to receive this news in its "Proper Perspective!"
Happiness is really determined by our perspective in life not by circumstances. If we learn to be grateful people despite circumstances that will greatly improve our happiness.
Being a grateful person can also improve your service and your witness. Having a noticeable countenance of thankfulness and joy will certainly make us better witnesses for Christ. What is sad is that many Christians are the most negative, sour people in the world.
But when we are thankful, joyful people. We show that our attitude isn’t dependent upon our worldly circumstances, but on our relationship with our Lord. We attract the lost with our spirit of gratitude because the world is so dark and depressing and ungrateful. We want to show that we have something to celebrate in this dismal world. If we can exhibit a true Christian worldview, be different from unsaved, show our hope and thankfulness, it gives us an opportunity to witness for Christ. We show that we have something they don’t. 1 Peter 2:12 reads, 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. Living a life of thankfulness shows in our demeanor the joy and contentment we have in our heart.
Do you know how the apostle Paul began most of his letters in the Bible?
To the church in Rome he wrote. First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world. (Romans 1:8)
To the church in Corinth. I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, (1 Corinthians 1:4).
To the church in Ephesus. For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints,
do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers;
(Ephesians 1:16).
To the Philippians. I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, (Philippians 1:3).
To the church in Colossi. We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, (Colossians 1:3).
Paul made sure that he let people in the churches know that he was thankful for them. Imagine how much better our church and our relationships would be if we expressed our thanks for each other.
One way having a grateful heart will benefit you, it will SOLIDFY YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.
Hebrews 12:25 says, "Let us please God by serving him with thankful hearts."
You know what I have found to be true in my life? I have found that I have a need to give thanks. There is a desire within me to give thanks to something for what I have. Even an atheist feels in the mood to be thankful from time to time.
Harriet Martineau was an atheist. One morning she & a Christian friend stepped out into the glories of a beautiful fall morning. As Harriet saw the brilliant sun peaking through the haze, & the frost on the meadow, & the brightly colored leaves making their way lazily to the ground, she was filled with the beauty & burst forth with "I am so thankful. I’m just so grateful for it all." And her Christian friend asked, "Grateful to whom, my dear?"
There is something inside of each of us that needs to give thanks to God. When I spend time giving thanks to God for all I have, I just feel close to him, don’t you?
I think that is exactly why, 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. " It is God’s plan, his will for us to give thanks to him. He made us for that.
II. WAYS TO DEVELOP THANKSGIVING IN OUR LIVES
Well, what are some ways we can become more grateful people? First, if we want to be thankful, remember that EVERYTHING WE HAVE IS FROM GOD. Acknowledge that everything we have is God’s and not ours.
Psalm 24:1 says, 1 The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains, The world, and those who dwell in it.
When we do this, it reminds us that it is a privilege that God has loaned us everything we have.
1 Corinthians 4:7 says, 7 For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?
The story is told of a poor man who was given a loaf of bread. He thanked the baker, but the baker said, "Don’t thank me. Thank the miller who made the flour." So he thanked the miller, but the miller said, "Don’t thank me. Thank the farmer who planted the wheat."
So he thanked the farmer. But the farmer said, "Don’t thank me. Thank the Lord. He gave the sunshine & rain & fertility to the soil, & that’s why you have bread to eat."
Everything we own, we ultimately received from God and we owe him thanks. James 1:17, 17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.
Secondly, if we want to be thankful we need to AVOID COMPLAINING.
I used to think people complained because they had a lot of problems. But I have come to realize that they have problems because they complain. Complaining doesn’t change anything or make situations better, but it does shift our focus from Jesus to the storm around us. It amplifies frustration, spreads discontent and discord, and can invoke an invitation for satan to wreak havoc with our lives." Complaining makes us miserable. Psalm 77:3b says, 3b I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed.
Complaining is the archenemy of thanksgiving. The two cannot co-exist in the same heart. And so I challenge you to try to quit complaining for a whole month. Just try it. When you feel tempted to complain, instead of filing your complaint, file a praise. It will change your life.
Philippians 2:14-15 says, Do all things without grumbling or disputing;
so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world,
One last thing we can to do to produce a spirit of thanksgiving is to DEVELOP THE DAILY DISCIPLINE OF GIVING THANKS. In order to be thankful people we need to start to give thanks everyday. Not just once a year on Thanksgiving. We need to discipline ourselves to find something each day that we should be thankful for and express our thanks to God. Perhaps create a journal or a file on our computers where we list the things God has done for us. Call it a praise file. Thanksgiving must become a daily habit.
Ephesians 5:19-20 says, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father;
Always is the key word. Not just on Thanksgiving. Everyday.
In Daniel 6 we read that Daniel got down on his knees three times everyday and prayed and gave thanks to his God.
I read recently that if you own one Bible, you are abundantly blessed, because a third of the people in the world do not have access to a Bible. If you awoke this morning with more health than illness you are more blessed than 1 million people who will not survive the week. If you have never experienced the danger of war, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation you are more fortunate than 500 million people on earth. If you have food in your refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof over your head, twenty dollars in your pocket and a place to sleep you are richer than 75 percent of the world. O, God forgive me when I whine.
I found this list of questions you can ask to test whether you are a grateful person or not?
#1 Which do you tend to talk about more -- your blessings, or your disappointments?
#2 Are you a complainer, always grumbling, always finding fault with your circumstances?
#3 Are you content with what you have, or always dissatisfied and wanting more?
#4 Do you find it easier to count your blessings, or is it easier to count your afflictions?
#5 Do you express thanks to others when they help you, or do you just take it as your due?
#6 Would others say that you are a thankful person?
WHICH WINDOW?
"A traveler had an experience aboard a plane bound for Miami, waiting for takeoff. As she settled into her seat, Marge noticed a strange phenomenon. On one side of the airplane a sunset suffused the entire sky with glorious color. But out of the window next to her seat, all she could see was a sky dark and threatening, with no sign of the sunset.
"As the plane’s engines began to roar, a gentle Voice spoke within her. ’You have noticed the windows,’ He murmured beneath the roar and thrust of the takeoff. ’Your life, too, will contain some happy, beautiful times, but also some dark shadows. Here’s a lesson I want to teach you to save you much heartache and allow you to abide in Me with continual peace and joy.
"’You see, it doesn’t matter which window you look through; this plane is still going to Miami. So it is in your life. You have a choice. You can dwell on the gloomy picture. Or you can focus on the bright things and leave the dark, ominous situations to Me. I alone can handle them anyway.
"’And the final destination is not influenced by what you see or feel along the way. Learn this, act on it and you will be released, able to experience the peace that passes understanding.’"
Counted your blessings, and give thanks to God.
